pro-democracy activists

updated Sun. May 6, 2018

Karn Pongprapaphan holds a sign atop a truck carrying pro-democracy leaders on a march through Bangkok on Saturday. By Todd Ruiz, Asaree Thaitrakulpanich. BANGKOK — Protesters pushed past police Saturday evening on a march to army headquarters in Bangkok to demand the military dissolveÃÂ ...

BANGKOK (REUTERS) - More than 300 Thai pro-democracy demonstrators marched to the gates of the army headquarters in Bangkok on Saturday (March 24) to call on soldiers to withdraw their support for the ruling junta. It was one of the biggest in a new wave of protests against corruption and theÃÂ ...

Chapman To Man-chak is best known in Hong Kong for his advocacy of Cantonese-language films and outspoken support of pro-democracy protests. In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, the 45-year-old actor and director criticized other Hong Kong film industry veterans as "too busy shiningÃÂ ...

In what is being hailed as an olive branch, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor became the first chief executive to make a donation to the city's biggest pro-democracy party. Lam, who attended the Democratic Party's 23rd anniversary dinner in Kowloon Bay on Tuesday night, was among othersÃÂ ...

Beside them, pro-democracy activist Jaco Chow Nok-hang called on the public to watch government plans to develop the area, as well as Yau Tsim Mong district in downtown Kowloon. “The northeast defendants hope all Hongkongers will continue to preserve our community and strive for a just society,” heÃÂ ...

2018 is an election year not just here in Hawaii, but also for a number of congressional races around the country. Overseas, this past weekend saw an important election in Hong Kong—with significant results. HPR's Bill Dorman has more in today's Asia Minute.

Government officials also barred at least three pro-democracy candidates from running in the by-election over accusations that they supported Hong Kong independence or similar ideas. One of those barred candidates, Agnes Chow, was a student leader during the 2014 protests known as the UmbrellaÃÂ ...

Thai anti-junta activists display placards during a pro-democracy rally at a university field in Bangkok. — AFP photo. BANGKOK: Hundreds of pro-democracy Thais rallied in Bangkok yesterday to skewer the ruling junta with T-shirts, signs and speeches, as activists grow bolder in their defiance of a ban onÃÂ ...

Rallies around Thailand are planned for today as protesters seek to bring forward the long-planned general election to an earlier date than the originally scheduled November 18. The vote has been delayed a fourth time to February 2019 “at the latest”. As a result, the military junta ruling Thailand since aÃÂ ...

Protesters hold posters of Teresa Cheng, Hong Kong's justice secretary, during a protest the city over the disqualification of a pro-democracy activist in ... The removal of elected pro-democracy lawmakers from office and the disqualification of fresh candidates by election officials ahead of Sunday'sÃÂ ...

KUALA LUMPUR: The leader of Malaysia's biggest pro-democracy group said on Tuesday (Mar 6) she will stand for parliament in a general election under the banner of an opposition alliance. Maria Chin Abdullah is chairwoman of the activist group Bersih, which means "clean" in the Malay language, andÃÂ ...

A high-profile Vietnamese writer says she has gone into hiding after being interrogated about her banned book and placed under de facto house arrest by plain-clothes police, vowing Thursday to continue pressing for democracy in the one-party state. Activist Pham Doan Trang said she was held forÃÂ ...

The move dealt another blow to the pro-democracy bloc, following 24 earlier amendments to the rule book that were passed in December. Finance Committee chairman Chan Kin-por expected that the “reasonable” changes could save five to 10 hours of scrutiny on each contentious expenditure proposalÃÂ ...

Pro-democracy lawmakers have criticised Financial Secretary Paul Chan for failing to provide cash handouts to Hongkongers and for “perpetuating the wealth gap” in his latest budget speech. Chan gave his second budget speech — and his first under the Carrie Lam administration — on WednesdayÃÂ ...

Freedom of Expression 'Under Attack' in Hong Kong As Democracy Activists Targeted: Report ... "Freedom of expression in Hong Kong came under attack as the government used vague and over broad charges to prosecute pro-democracy activists," the group said in its annual report, published onÃÂ ...

After it made an enquiry last September, Hong Kong's Department of Justice told Amnesty that the pro-democracy protests which rocked the city in 2014 were not peaceful, and involved violence. “While Amnesty International acknowledges there were isolated incidents of small-scale violence, the protestsÃÂ ...

Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and renowned human rights activist in Pakistan, died of a heart attack on Sunday in Lahore at the age of 66, her family confirmed. An outspoken advocate for democracy, she was one of the most prominent voices against Pakistan's military regimes in the 1980s and 2000s. News ofÃÂ ...

On March 16 and 17, students staged protests on the campus of Rangoon University, which led to the 8888 [pro-democracy] popular uprising. That event will have its 30th anniversary this year. Ko Sanny and Ko Ye Naing Aung, also known as Ko Wa, who joined the student movement in March 1988, joinÃÂ ...

'Enough of the lies...we must vote this year,' one of the masked activists said. Photo: Reuters. Hundreds of pro-democracy activists in Thailand wore cartoon masks portraying the country's junta leader with a long nose on Saturday, calling him a "liar" for delaying a general election promised this year.

During a Now TV debate for the Hong Kong Island constituency on Wednesday night, Chan of the New People's Party showed a photo of the pro-democracy politician burning a copy of the law as she criticised him for his political stance: “If you truly uphold the Basic Law, you would have no need to fearÃÂ ...

After it made an enquiry last September, Hong Kong's Department of Justice told Amnesty that the pro-democracy protests which rocked the city in 2014 were not peaceful, and involved violence. “While Amnesty International acknowledges there were isolated incidents of small-scale violence, the protestsÃÂ ...

Freedom of Expression 'Under Attack' in Hong Kong As Democracy Activists Targeted: Report ... "Freedom of expression in Hong Kong came under attack as the government used vague and over broad charges to prosecute pro-democracy activists," the group said in its annual report, published onÃÂ ...

A group of pro-democracy activists in Thailand said on Saturday that it plans to hold more public protests, despite threat of arrests, to demand the military government not to delay a general election scheduled for November this year. The junta has promised and postponed elections several times since itÃÂ ...

Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow stands in front of the media during a protest outside the headquarters of the Hong Kong government in Hong Kong, Jan. ... Chow is a key member of the pro-democracy party Demosisto, which was formed by the leaders of the 2014 Occupy Central movement, and whichÃÂ ...

WASHINGTON — Morgan Tsvangirai, once an impoverished Zimbabwean nickel miner who became a charismatic union leader, pro-democracy activist, and eventually the country's embattled prime minister under a 2008 power-sharing agreement with his longtime foe, Robert Mugabe, died Wednesday.

That's how long it's been since the Arab Spring protests rolled across the Middle East, sparking hope of democratic reform in the region's most autocratic strongholds. It's also the length of the prison sentence I'd now get if I wrote this article in my home country of Bahrain, where it's virtually illegal to discussÃÂ ...

After seeing growing anti-government protests like this one near Democracy Monument last Saturday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has promised a crackdown on 'backwards' political demonstrations. - +. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday vowed to get tough on political agitators, saying allÃÂ ...

Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and renowned human rights activist in Pakistan, died of a heart attack on Sunday in Lahore at the age of 66, her family confirmed. An outspoken advocate for democracy, she was one of the most prominent voices against Pakistan's military regimes in the 1980s and 2000s. News ofÃÂ ...

A group of pro-democracy district councillors in Hong Kong who claimed unidentified guards in black harassed them and stopped them attending a council meeting filed a report with police on Monday, saying they were illegally blocked from doing their jobs. They urged officers to investigate fully the dramaÃÂ ...

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are demanding the UK release files that are held by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and have yet to be transferred to the National Archives in London after years of delay. Many of Hong Kong's colonial-era files were moved back to the UK before the Handover onÃÂ ...

Monrovia - The pro-democracy group, Democratic Watch Forum (DWF) has hailed the decision of President George Weah to appoint former Lofa County Representative Moses Y. Kollie as Liberia's Labor Minister. The group believes the appointment of the Mr. Kollie further testifies to the Pres. Weah'sÃÂ ...

Agnes Chow, a pro-democracy activist, was last week banned from standing in a Hong Kong byelection. Photograph: Ren/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock. Simon Chu, a former director of government records in Hong Kong, said: “Control is in the government's hands … If we cannot access our records in theÃÂ ...

... to bring political reform and self-determination to Hong Kong." However, Wong, Law and Chow - who shot to prominence as leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement - warned that Beijing was targeting the freedoms enjoyed by residents of Hong Kong as a semi-autonomous part of China.

Pro-democracy activists said they were unnerved that another member of their movement, former lawmaker Edward Yiu, was grilled about his political beliefs. Yiu and three other members were disqualified by a judge last year after they altered their official oaths at their induction. The court's ruling leanedÃÂ ...

Vu Quang Thuan, also known as Vo Phu Dong, 51, began his pro-democracy activism in 2007 when he and fellow activist Le Thang Long founded “Vietnam Restoration Movement” (Phong trao Chan hung nuoc Viet), which advocated for a multi-party and democratic political system. According to Le, theÃÂ ...

Hong Kong on Saturday banned pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow from running in upcoming elections in a move widely seen as political interference from China. China has increased pressure on Hong Kong authorities to quash any attempts to further independence from the mainland as it seeks toÃÂ ...

Agnes Chow (centre) founded Demosisto with fellow umbrella movement leaders including Joshua Wong and Nathan Law in 2016. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images. Hong Kong's embattled pro-democracy movement has suffered another blow after authorities barred a leading member of theÃÂ ...

Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, 21, attends a rally in front of her portrait after she was banned from running in a by-election, in Hong Kong, China ... Agnes Chow, a member of the pro-democracy Demosisto party which wants self-determination for the city, had planned to run for the Hong Kong IslandÃÂ ...

Pro-democracy lawmakers have demanded that Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng explain the legal grounds on which the government could bar pro-democracy activists Edward Yiu and Agnes Chow from running in the upcoming Legislative Council by-election. Cheng refused to meet pro-democracyÃÂ ...

It was roughly six months ago when Nathan Law, chairman of Demosisto, lost his job. He and five other pro-democracy lawmakers had strayed from the prescribed oath during the swearing-in ceremony, and were ousted from the Legislative Council (LegCo) after Beijing issued a reinterpretation of theÃÂ ...

Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp is considering a major shift in strategy for the coming Legislative Council by-elections after the withdrawal of second-choice candidate and veteran Frederick Fung Kin-kee. Fung, who was a backup for the Kowloon West constituency, announced his decision on MondayÃÂ ...

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was released on bail Tuesday (Jan 23) pending appeal against a jail term over pro-democracy protests. Wong was jailed for three months last week, the second time he has received a prison sentence for his involvement in the Umbrella Movement.

BEIJING — On Wednesday, he posted an appeal to change China's Constitution, suggesting, among other things, that there might be a more democratic way to elect the country's leader. By Friday morning, he was in police custody. Yu Wensheng, one of China's most prominent lawyers and politicalÃÂ ...

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison for his role in massive protests in 2014, dealing another blow to the pro-democratic youth movement in this semi-autonomous region of China. Wong, 21, pleaded guilty to the charge of defying a court order toÃÂ ...

During the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations, which lasted 79 days, activists and students brought Hong Kong's financial district to a standstill. The Umbrella movement, as it became known, demanded free elections to replace a system where the city's chief executive — its highest ranking leader — isÃÂ ...

Cornell William Brooks is a former president and CEO of the NAACP. He is a visiting professor of Ethics, Law and Justice Movements at Boston University School of Law and School of Theology and a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.